Misc

As Lycomings massive crankshaft recalls draws to an end, heres one owners report card on the results.

Lycoming earns customer appreciation for its financial settlements but brickbats for poor communication.

After skidding through the mud and slime for 50 feet, our Boom Beam still works. Testing continues.

Diesel Numbers
I just read the article in the March 2003 Aviation Consumer regarding the SMA diesel. I help manage a flying co-op named the Flying Country Club, Inc. We are a for-profit corporation owned by its members.

Weve been in operation since 1961 and have six airplanes including a Cessna 152, Cessna 172M, Piper PA28-180, PA28-181, Cessna 177RG and a 210L. Our member/owners pay both monthly dues and for flight time tach hours when they fly. We are located in the heart of the Midwest at Moline, Illinois.

A few things come to mind as I read the article. Id like to put them on the table as concerns I didnt see discussed in the article. The first one is that wi…

After a decade of impressive appreciation, used aircraft prices are in decline. Its a bargain-hunters paradise.

Ercoupe Lover
Loved your coverage of the Ercoupe in the January issue of Aviation Consumer. Ive admired the little beggar ever since my ride in one over 50 years ago. Superb engineering produced a machine that personifies, for me, recreational flying. The hangar BS artists who put the knock on it were (are) the same sort of clowns who pooh-pooh the Porsche 924.

You brought me up short, though, with this business of Boeing using Ercoupes to train 707 pilots to land in a crab.Are you certain that you havent been taken in by an old wives tale? Any fool can land an airplane in a crab. It hardly takes training.

For more years than Ill admit, I flewlarge (142-foot…

Our tour of the factory in France suggests these guys are serious. The key to success may be marketing power by the hour.

Crank Comments
The crankshaft problems experienced, first by Continental and more recently and severely by Lycoming, are a symptom of an aging and stagnant industry.

These folks, set in their ways as they are, would not consider changing. The sad fact is that the solution is we’ll known and already in use by those building highly stressed, high reliability piston engines. The real solution to obtaining consistently high quality crankshafts in small quantities is to use billet cranks.

This is a process whereby a solid piece of rolled or forged bar stock is machined into the finished shape of the crank by a CNC machine designed specifically for that purpose. This process h…

A bargain replacement for the JD-200, this radio performs we’ll for only $275.

Tablet Computers
Its a shame that you did not review the Northstar CT-1000. It is a unit that is specially designedfor use in an aircraft and the CT-1000G has been certified and an STC obtained for dual installation in Gulfstreams.

My experience with EFBs go backto the Navision 1000 produced by ARNAV in about 1989. After using it for about 10 years and with the advances in PCs (the NV1000 was not based on a PC), I was looking for a new EFB that would add the Jeppesen charts to the checklists and maps that the NV1000 provided.

I believe that the CT-1000 started life as prototype built by Regan Designs called the Junior. Northstar acquired a license to manufacture…

After some tweaking, GAMIs precision nozzles knocked a couple of gallons off fuel flow and tamed spikey temperatures.

Insurance for older pilots is a touchy issue. Recurrent training or adding a rating will make you a more attractive risk.